About 35,000 Arlington and Falls Church residents will find a postcard in their mailbox this month asking whether they can serve on a jury next year.
The Arlington Circuit Court is beginning its annual juror qualification process in early September, mailing questionnaires to residents drawn at random from voter registration rolls, according to a county press release. Jury commissioners appointed by the court will review the responses this fall to determine who is eligible to serve in 2027.
The Arlington County Courthouse has begun allowing visitors to carry cellphones, laptops and other electronics inside, lifting a longstanding ban on the devices.
The change went into effect on July 1 in compliance with a new state law. Devices had previously been banned in the courthouse, requiring visitors who arrived with devices to secure them in lockers on the ground floor of the Arlington County Jail.
A man who says he was badly injured during an immigration arrest on Columbia Pike is demanding a criminal investigation.
Protesters gathered outside the Arlington County Justice Center this morning (Friday) in support of Jose Mejia Hernandez, who says he suffered a brain bleed and other injuries after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers reportedly chased him and shot him with a Taser earlier this month.
A former substitute teacher has been found guilty of engaging in a sexual relationship with a Washington-Liberty High School student.
Timothy Thomas McGhee was found guilty of taking indecent liberties with a minor after a three-day trial, the Arlington County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office announced in a press release. The verdict followed a previous trial in December, where a mistrial was declared due to a hung jury.
Despite pending legal challenges at the state and local level, Arlington prosecutors still consider Virginia’s new assault weapons ban the law of the land.
“Yes, we plan to prosecute cases under the assault weapons ban if they are brought to us by the police,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti told ARLnow, taking a position that tracks with the view of Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones.
House Republicans are compelling Arlington’s top prosecutor to testify next week in a pair of ongoing disputes over politically charged topics.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is requiring Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti to appear for a deposition on Thursday, July 16. This caps months of written clashes between the two officials — first over Dehghani-Tafti’s handling of a criminal case involving a political activist, and later over her policies restricting contact with immigration enforcement.
A Virginia law going into effect on July 1 will seal the criminal records of many people convicted of low-level offenses.
The commonwealth’s “Clean Slate” law is expected to automatically seal over 100,000 criminal records of Virginians who were once convicted of misdemeanors such as shoplifting, trespassing and distributing marijuana, but who haven’t reoffended in the past seven years. This will make make housing providers and many employers unable to access such records via criminal background checks.
A pair of open-house-style events held over the weekend provided local residents an up-close look at the inner workings of the commonwealth’s attorney’s office.
The two Interactive Data Walks on Local Prosecution and Diversion Programs aimed to demystify the work of the prosecutor’s office, Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti told ARLnow.
James Almand, an Arlington native who served more than a quarter-century in the General Assembly and then nearly a decade on the circuit court, died May 14. He was 77.
“The totality of Jim Almand’s career as a legislator and judge is one of the greatest in Arlington’s history,” Clerk of the Circuit Court and former County Board member Paul Ferguson told ARLnow. “He was liked and respected by everyone who knew him.”
The family of the 19-year-old killed in an October 2024 car crash has settled a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the driver and members of his family.
An Arlington circuit court judge approved the settlement between Michael Rados, the father of Nicholas Rados, and Brooks Bare in court last week, online court records showed.
An Arlington man faces up to life in prison after he admitted to stabbing his daughter and his wife in a psychosis-related episode in Pentagon City.
Leonardo Antonio Reyes, now 24, has pleaded guilty in Arlington County Circuit Court to one count each of second-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding, both stemming from a Dec. 14, 2024 incident.
A new opt-in service from the circuit court clerk’s office aims to provide property owners with another tool to catch fraudulent activity.
The “Property Alert” initiative, offered at no charge, provides alerts when changes are made to property documentation held by the clerk’s office. Individuals can sign up for email notices based on criteria including name, property address or real property code.
